Friday, January 22, 2016

Saudi MOH Announces 2 MERS Cases

10,919

We've seen a very quiet December and January with regards to MERS reports from Saudi Arabia, but today the MOH announces two new cases, both supposedly having had (1 direct and 1 indirect) camel contact.

Although there is no overriding `season' for MERS, late winter and spring are viewed as times of heightened concern, primarily because of so many young - virologically naive - camels born over the winter.

While camel contact no doubt contributes to the `reseeding' of the virus into the human population, by far most people are infected by contact with infected individuals, often in hospital or health care settings.

For the majority of `primary' cases (those that occur in the community when
there is no known exposure to a healthcare facility or to a known human
case), the risk exposure remains unknown.